Nearly 100 people enjoyed a tasty western lunch and lively talk by Montana writer, Christene Meyers. She was keynote speaker for the annual fall Buffalo Gals luncheon, and was invited because her novel features Cody founder, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, as one of its cameos. A book-signing followed the presentation, in the Buffalo Bill Center's museum lobby.
Longtime Montana journalist and travel/arts writer Meyers described the evolution of her first novel, Lilian’s Last Dance, called “vivid, stunning, and monumental,” by a San Francisco critic. The novel is garnering praise for “prodigious research and ambitious interweaving of cameo figures” with fictional personalities in art, film, and the still-wild West. The book follows the adventures and mishaps of a troupe of entertainers and filmmakers --1907 to World War I. Silent movies are on the decline and Hollywood is in its infancy.
For the Buffalo Gals Luncheon, Meyers read a passage about William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody's meeting of the title character. Other "real life" cameos include Charlie Chaplin, Pablo Picasso, Ty Cobb, Bat Masterson, Mary Pickford, and Gertrude Stein. Meyers co-wrote the tale during winters in Arizona and summers on Montana's Stillwater River. Her late husband, Bill Jones, collaborated. He was a longtime Phoenix-based, nationally-known film critic.
Meyers will send an inscribed, first edition copy of the book for $22, which includes postage and a personal inscription. E-mail her at: lilianslastdance@gmail.com. Or send a check to Christene Meyers to: 8935 Via Andar, San Diego, Calif. 92122. Additional copies are $20.
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